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Mutations of ferric uptake regulator (fur) impair iron homeostasis, growth, oxidative stress survival, and virulence of Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris

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Abstract

Iron is essential in numerous cellular functions. Intracellular iron homeostasis must be maintained for cell survival and protection against iron’s toxic effects. Here, we characterize the roles of Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris (Xcc) fur, which encodes an iron sensor and a transcriptional regulator that acts in iron homeostasis, oxidative stress, and virulence. Herein, we isolated spontaneous Xcc fur mutants that had high intracellular iron concentrations due to constitutively high siderophore levels and increased expression of iron transport genes. These mutants also had reduced aerobic plating efficiency and resistance to peroxide killing. Moreover, one fur mutant was attenuated on a host plant, thus indicating that fur has important roles in the virulence of X. campestris pv. campestris.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BT-B-01-PG-14-5112) and from Mahidol University to SM; from the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) to MF (TRG5180003). TJ was supported by a Royal Golden Jubilee Scholarship PHD/0222/2547 from the TRF. We are grateful to Dr. Scott Beatson and Dr. Duangdao Wichadakul for their assistance in the analysis of DNA binding site.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Mahidol University, Rama VI Road, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand

    Thichakorn Jittawuttipoka & Skorn Mongkolsuk

  2. Center of Emerging Bacterial Infection, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Rama VI Road, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand

    Skorn Mongkolsuk

  3. Laboratory of Biotechnology, Chulabhorn Research Institute, Lak Si, Bangkok, 10210, Thailand

    Ratiboot Sallabhan, Paiboon Vattanaviboon, Mayuree Fuangthong & Skorn Mongkolsuk

  4. Chulabhorn Graduate Institute, Lak Si, Bangkok, 10210, Thailand

    Paiboon Vattanaviboon & Mayuree Fuangthong

  5. Center of Excellence on Environmental Health, Toxicology and Management of Chemicals, Bangkok, Thailand

    Paiboon Vattanaviboon, Mayuree Fuangthong & Skorn Mongkolsuk

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  1. Thichakorn Jittawuttipoka
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  2. Ratiboot Sallabhan
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  3. Paiboon Vattanaviboon
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  4. Mayuree Fuangthong
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  5. Skorn Mongkolsuk
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Correspondence to Mayuree Fuangthong or Skorn Mongkolsuk.

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Communicated by John Helmann.

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Jittawuttipoka, T., Sallabhan, R., Vattanaviboon, P. et al. Mutations of ferric uptake regulator (fur) impair iron homeostasis, growth, oxidative stress survival, and virulence of Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris. Arch Microbiol 192, 331–339 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-010-0558-8

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